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` STATES SOLOMON H. APPLE, BENJAMIN LINDHEIM, AND HENRY BAER, OE NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR SHAPING- HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SOLOMON H. APPLE, BENJAMIN LINDHEIM, and HENRY BAER, of the city and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Means for Curling the Brims of Hats, Bloomers, &c.; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of our said invention, reference beinghad to the annexed drawing, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure l, is a plan of our said invention and Fig. 2, is a vertical section of the same.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

The nature of our said invention consists of moving half rings combined with curved dies; said half rings acting to curl the brim of the hat over the upper die and press the same into shape.

This invention is especially intended for curling the brims of hats made from flat sheets of felt cloth or other material, but is equally applicable to the curling of the brims of bloomers, hats, &c.

In the drawing a, is a suitable stand or table sustaining the lower die and o, is the upper connected to the head block el, from which the pendent rods c, e, pass to the cross bar f, that is acted on by any suitable lever or other mechanism so that the two dies Z), and c, are brought together with the requisite pressure. l/Vhen these dies o, and c, perform the entire operation of shaping the hat they are to be heated by suitable irons or otherwise and the sheet of felt cloth or other material is pulled out into shape as the pressing progresses so as to avoid the formation of folds or wrinkles; but if the hat is previously shaped the dies serve to hold the brim while being curled.

g, g, are half rings formed with a con- 30,791, dated December 4, 1860.

cavity in each corresponding to the curve of the hat brim when curled. These half rings are sustained by the stocks Z, Z, on the slides 7c, lc, and 7L, t, are levers on fulcra l, l, by which the half rings are slidden up against the block o.

The operation is as followsf The hat being pressed and held between the dies o and c, with the half rings g, g, slid back as in Fig. l, the workmen turn the loose edges of the material up over the rounding part l, of the die c, and by the levers h, h, slide up said half pieces g, g, and press the material firmly onto the die 0,' to form the curled brim, care being taken to stretch and draw out any wrinkles that might otherwise form in the material. In order to set the curl of the brim, the half rings g,V g,-may\be heated, or the heat of the die c, depended upon for this purpose.

IVe do not claim curling the brims of hats by a contracting cloth apron or cord acting on a die as these have before been used; neither do we claim pressing the whole hat or other article by dies the same in the patent of Wm. Osborn, reissued March 27 th, 1860.

Having thus described our said invention what we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is The sliding half rings g, g, fitted and acting substantially as specified, in combination with the curved part 1, of the die c, as and for the purposes. specified.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our signatures this fifth day of November,

SOLOMON H. APPLE.V BENJAMIN LINDHEIM. HENRY BAER.

Vitnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, CHAs. H. SMITH. 

